I had purchased the DVD for this quite some time back, and watched it all in 2 days.

Synopsis :Kuroko had come from an elite basketball school, and enrolled in a school that which was hardly known for baseball. Reason being, as the invisible 6th elite member of the  basketball team from the previous school, he wants to plays his own style of basketball. Together with Kagami, and other charming members of the team, he works hard to raise the school's profile, and faces his opponents, the other 5 members.

Thoughts : I'm always up for a sports anime as it really gets my blood pumping and nostrils flaring though IRL I'm as unatheletic as a sloth. Not wait. Probably the sloth is more athletic. But to be honest, the anime seemed draggy in the first 3 episodes or so. It only got really interesting once Kuroko faced his first opponent, the model-ish guy (can't remember his name) who is good at copying moves. Once the pace started picking up, the story was charged with energy, and it was really interesting to see his opponents, i.e. the other ex-members of the elite team. Kuroko's style of basketball, whereby he is the shadow, and he lends support to Kagami, the light, seems really cool. Even his annoying poker face and monotonous manner of speech seems cool and chill after a while. The story did end prematurely, but will be supplemented with a Season 2 in September.

Was it draggy? Felt like it needed some time to really get started, but overall the series was not draggy.

Was the art nice? Yes . Though Kagami has weird eyebrows.

Would I watch it twice? Yes. Of course.

Would I recommend it? For those who like sports related anime, yes!

On a separate note. I find it disturbing how many DJs have been released for this title. To be honest, I don't like DJs unless they are DJs for yaoi manga/pairing. I don't like to infer guy on guy relationship when there really is nothing there.

My opinion on anime/manga need not coincide with readers' opinion. These are just my diarised thoughts, anime/manga posts are not meant as reviews or to be taken as actual recommendation.

FanTa

Ever since I got myself an unlimited wi-fi package I have been downloading like a starved person unleashing at a buffet. I had paid for a subscription at www.animea.net, something that I had been considering for years, but since the website looks to "simple" and not flashy in the least, I had actually doubted its legitimacy. Alas, it is a proper and legitimate website, with easy right-click DDLs. A lot of the anime that I am choosing to download are OLD and thus not easily found on torrents. So...right click DDLs it is. I am downloading all sorts from romance, to slice of life,  to cooking, to supernatural, to sports. I don't really like romance all that much but hey....if the rating looks good on ANN, and story line sounds somewhat passable...I'm willing to abuse my wi-fi and animea.net subscriptions and download everything!

Working!! however, is not an old anime.

Synopsis : The story takes place in a family restaurant WAGNARIA, where 16-yo Takanashi works. He was persuaded by Popura, a high school girl, who's so small she's always mistaken for a middle schooler. He was so persuaded because he likes cute things...anything...that is cute....and he especially likes cute Popura. In the restaurant there are many other weird characters, like :
- a lazy ass manager (woman)  who just eats Parfaits
- a girl who is scared of men (thanks to her dad) and punches all men, Inami-san
- a girl who worships the lazy ass manager (past history) and walks around with a katana strapped to her apron
- a guy who is pretty much a stalker or busy body and knows everyone's secrets
- a pretty much normal guy who doesn't talk much and likes the girl who likes the lazy ass manager

This slice of life title takes you around Takanashi's daily life dealing with these weird characters, and these weird characters' relationship with one another. The greatest chunk of the story is dedicated to Takanashi dealing with the anti-male Inami-san, whom he is in charge of, for purposes of "rehabilitation", and who has developed a crush on him (not like she would dare do anything about it).

Thoughts :Nothing much happens in this anime...at least nothing particularly memorable. It's fun seeing how they poke fun at each other, bully each other,  (such as how they always poke fun at Popura for being so short), and solve mini-problems (like dealing with a lost child, or difficult customers etc). It's just a light series which is relaxing to watch.

Was it draggy? No. There are 2 seasons with 13 episodes each, and since there really isn't much of a story to drag on...thus it wasn't draggy.

Was the art nice? Not the glossy kind, but yes, the art was nice, your typical slice of life art.

Would I watch it twice? Sure. The series is light and fun.

Would I recommend it? Oh yes of course. It's a nice light and goofy and funny (not to the extent of being hilarious) anime.

FanTa

I finished this short 12-episode anime recently. Originally I thought it was something like a cooking anime...like...the different ben-tos the main character makes everyday.....or something ....(I like food related anime). Alas...it is totally different.

Synopsis : You Sato, the main character, lives in a dorm and it's tough to make ends meet. He visits the grocery store and has his eye on the ben-tos on display when the staff comes and puts a "HALF-PRICE" sticker on the remaining ben-tos as it was already the end of the day. Suddenly he was attacked!! Viciously attacked!! A casualty of the war of half-priced ben-tos. Together with the Ice Witch, a fellow schoolmate who is the strongest "wolf" of the war, he learns all about turfs...being a wolf....and what it takes to survive....and the awesome taste of a ben-to won through blood & sweat...literally.

Thoughts :BORING! BORING! BORING! I NEARLY DIED WATCHING THIS! Seriously? Who created this story? A turf-war on grocery stores? Becoming wolves to wage war on half-priced bentos? Seriously? It just gave me intense cravings for Japanese food....that's the only impact it had on me.

Was it Draggy? No.

Was the art nice? Yes...very pretty and quite glossy.

Would I watch it twice? NEVER. I want to delete it from my HDD!!!

Would I recommend it? NEVER. There are tonnes of better anime out there. Please don't waste your time.

FanTa

Sheesh I don't have a mochi userpic.

Synopsis : Tamako is just a normal young girl whose family has been making mochi for generations. As her birthday approaches, she happens to meet a talking bird who claims to be a royal court attendant looking for a bride for his master. After the encounter, Dera the bird decides to stay around her and becomes a part of Tamako's life and the neighborhood that she lives in.

Thoughts : The moment I double clicked the episode I knew this anime would be cute. Indeed it is cute. Taking a break from all those fantasy anime, such as One Piece, Fairy Tail, etc and coming back to just good ol'fashioned slice of life anime reminds me of just what I love about Japan....all the nice sights...paper doors... a friendly neighbourhood shopping district...the Japanese suburbs...food....and just makes me want to go to Japan again and take a walk around the neighbourhood just taking it all in. Alas....that is all there is about this anime. I actually thought it would leave me with a feeling like that which I had for Hanasaku Iroha (http://fantasiser2004.livejournal.com/33084.html) which is like... a girl who would work really hard at her shop to see it flourish, or even creating all sorts of new mochi recipe.

Hmmm..I didn't really get that.

There were cute moments  when Tamako was coming up with ideas on how to liven up the shopping district etc, but...that's about all there is...just cute moments. I didn't see any character growth, not much  significant moments. The moment that really stuck in my mind is probably the old video of her dad serenading her mom with a song he wrote, and a very nice song that was. Furthermore, the dumb ass bird Dera was seriously in the way, and didn't contribute much, and the story would have been nice even without Dera and his prince. At the end of the movie Tamako reiterates her love for the shopping district and never wants to leave. Significant though this may be, it's not much of a character growth.

Was it Draggy? No. It's only 10-11 episodes short.

Was the art nice? Yes...very pretty and quite glossy.

Would I watch it twice? Yes. Just to reminisce the nice Japanese sceneries....even though it's mostly just scenes from the neighbourhood, and indoor public baths. Ahhh...I want to live there...

Would I recommend it? Not really. It's quite a plain story. Something along the line of those "daily life of high school boys" was it?  IN fact, really not much of a story at all.

It's been a long time since I visited LJ (most of my friends haven't posted on their LJ either...is EVERYONE BUSY?).

Been busy being a workaholic, and quite frankly, been too far behind yaoi and anime. All the stress from work (though I LOVE my job, but it was peak season) rendered reading far too cumbersome, and this includes reading subtitles. But I intend to remedy that. I want to continue with my Jap studies which I have abandoned since Nov2011. And I want to dive into yaoi again. There is a new UGH series? SHOCKER! I have downloaded numerous anime (old and new) to help light my fiery passion for anime again. Such as Tamako Market, Bartender, Antique Bakery, Natsuyuki Rendezvous, Shirokuma Cafe,  etc.  I have no idea how I will receive these anime. Will I love them? Hate them? Oh well....might as well try them at least.

Wish me luck,
FanTa

It's been so long since I wrote such posts....I can't remember what I used to say or how I used to write. Well, shall try again. 

I don't know when I downloaded Mirai Nikki, or it could be that I asked someone to download it for me. 

Synopsis Mirai Nikki, or literally translated, Future Diary, is about Amano Yukiteru, a middle schooler (I think) who one day discovered that his mobile phone started displaying his day, in advance. He would be able to read if bird poop was going to fall to his left, or they would serve his least favourite food at the cafeteria, or the answers to the pop quiz. But of course, this "gift" does not come without a price...and a prize.

The price? There are 12 other diary keepers....and everyone is out to kill...EVERYONE.
The prize? To become GOD, i.e. take over the current God who had bent time and space for this survival game, but whose days are apparently, numbered, hence this ruthless game is one way for him to find his successor.

"Trust no one" should be the motto for Yukiteru. But....when a crazed girl named Yuno who kills people with ruthlessness and skills akin to Milla Jovovich appears and wants to be on Yukiteru's side....can the wimpy Yuki really say "no"? WHY does she want to protect Yuki so badly? What does she stand to gain? What becomes Yuki's motivation to succeed and become God. Will "becoming God" really make everything....RIGHT? 

Thoughts After seeing the first three episodes, I was somewhat hooked. I mean...Yuno was INSANELY skilled and ruthless. And my interest was piqued. Then it was a roller coaster ride. After a while....the feeling was more like "who are they gonna kill today?". And I was beginning to think the anime is weird, illogical and somewhat SICK. I mean...there are KIDS going around KILLING people...with no repercussions. No one arresting them or anything. Well I guess LOGIC is the last thing on the creator's mind.  

And then, when a few characters appeared, whom are NOT diary keepers (like Aru and the detective NIshijima) start poking their nose here and there seemingly with NO actual BENEFIT to the storyline.. it got annoying. And then....my interest was piqued again as Yuki suddenly sheds his naivete and becomes more ruthless. But it got really interesting when things started unraveling.  The questions would be answered as the CLOCK TICKS to the world's end... Will becoming God make everything right? WHY is Yuno so hell bent on protecting Yuki? Will she KILL him for there can be only one survivor? 

It was also nice to see how the romance between Yuki and Yuno blossomed. A bit of insecurities here and there on Yuno's part, but it was nice to see how towards the end, Yuki grew a pair of balls, enough to make him realise that he truly does love her, despite her....wackiness.

Favourite Character Without a doubt, it has to be the mentally sick Yuno. She is sad, and in pain, and a bit crazy, but the way she casts aside her humanity with such one-mindedness, i.e. to protect Yuki...was...wow. And as everything unraveled and we can see what she has been doing...it's scary and yet amazing just how insane this woman can be, and yet...what she did had logic to it. She was both PAINFUL and DELIGHTFUL to watch. 

Geez I've been so busy, too busy to even finish writing about my trip. Well on Day 4 we're more than half way into the trip.

(1) We visited the Peace Park, which sat atop of a tall hill...it was quite a challenge climbing up there, no joke. I love the Guardian (?) statues from almost every part of Asia. Strange how I otice that the right and left statues are always different, but my friend who is Chinese has never once noticed it....shakes head. 

(2) On the way down from the Peace Park there were hundreds of statues dedicated to the Goddess of Mercy. It felt very calming being there at the park. 

(3) That night, we had a really nice time butt-naked at the Jiragonno Fuji no Yakata's Onsen. We went to the outside bath since some....barbaric people were making too much noise in the inner bath. Geez....it was like a night market. Sometimes the water was too hot, so we would hop out and just sit on the ledge...talking to each other butt naked...then when we got cold...we'd jump in again. Repeat cycle. It was funny.


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Hope everyone had a great Christmas, 
FanTa

On the 3rd day we : 
(1) Went to Gifu's Shirakawago, which is a rural area, famous for its steeply thatch-roofed houses, which does not allow snow to accumulate on top. It's quite high up in the hills, so it gets quite a lot of snow. There was a house converted into a museum where you can climb up to the roof/attic and see household items made of straw, etc. Interesting. 
(2) Went to San-machi Suji, which is the center of old town Takayama, filled with tourist friendly shops. We actually had the option of going to the nearby Temple, but a few of the groups opted to see the shops on the streets instead. After all........you see one temple, you've seen 'em all. Like when I went to Italy....see one ... three.....five statues....then they all start to look the same. 
(3) Went to Isawa, where we stayed at Isawa Kasugai View Hotel for the night. Here we enjoyed our first Japan Hot Spring, but I swear....the water was just too hot. Even the outdoor hot spring was just oo hot. WE couldn't take more than 15 minutes in it. 

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That's all for today, 
FanTa

On the second day, we went to:
(1) Osaka Castle (but didn't go in for a tour),
(2) then took a 1-hr bus ride to Nara for the Deer Park and Todaiji Temple where we had lunch
(3) then took another 1-hr bus ride to Kyoto, a beautiful old town full of lovely quaint houses, to see the Kiyomizu Temple which is seated on Higashiyama Hill.
(4) retired for the night at Gifu Resol Hotel



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That's all for today,
FanTa

It's been exactly FOUR MONTHS since my last update. I don't even KNOW what's going on in the yaoi world anymore.
Blame WORK, blame lack of time. In order to meet monthly deadlines and also to clear as much work as possible before I went on my trip, I was working 12 hours a day 5 days a week and 5 hours on Saturday, for a total of SIX WEEKS STRAIGHT.
Being in an understaffed team has been VERY CHALLENGING. But things will get better come 2013 with a higher headcount.

This Japan trip was a last minute decision, decided some 6-7 weeks ago. I had finished all my annual leave actually, and had to take 5 days of UNPAID LEAVE for this trip. Why? Because the opportunity presented itself. An ex-colleague/friend whom I meet maybe... 5 times in a year...always goes on trips with her mom. She suddenly mentioned she wanted to go to Japan, so I decided to hop on board  :
(1) I have few friends
(2) even fewer in that circle are friends who would consider traveling with me
(3) even fewer in that smaller circle are friends who would consider traveling with me to Japan. Malaysians just love to go to Europe. Always Europe Europe Europe...

So if anyone is at all interested, and mostly for the benefit of  crissema gaatinhhaa I will be posting pictures of my 8 days 6 nights stay in Osaka-Tokyo, over the course of the next 7 days....day by day.  Since it's a tour, we moved quickly through the major tourist spots, and stayed in a different hotel every night. Yes...it was very tiring. Very. Very tiring.

A short conclusion of my trip :
The Japanese...
(1) are encouraged to drink a lot I think? There are vending machines for drinks everywhere, and they are all roughly the same price everywhere. Even at our hotel...there's one on every floor.
(2) are all slim despite eating rice three times a day? I think they have very small portions. Unlike me...PILE ON THE RICE!
(3) love sweets and yet are very slim? They especially love soft ice cream.
(4) are very polite, and courteous, especially the sales assistants.....BUT....I did find the sales assistants a bit ROBOTIC, PROGRAMMED, and sometimes...UNNATURAL....especially that squeaky voice. I understand they would have undergone training on how to tend to customers, but from the way they talk, to the standard things they said "Irasshaimase....gozaimasu.....gozaimasu...." their facial expressions, to their squeaky (I guess the aim is to be kawaii) voice... everything felt very robotic. Nevertheless, this is a refreshing change from the often grumpy sales assistants in Malaysia, who would give a very judgemental bitchy face if you stepped in their shop and bought nothing. 

Japan....
(1) is very clean, except for certain parts like Shinjuku, where it is a bit messy on the road, but yes....still much much cleaner than most cities
(2) can be very crowded....watching the countless people crossing the Shibuya junction gave me the chills, since I don't like crowds... it's very stifling for me
(3) has a very handsome Fuji-san
(4) can be quite pricey...I can't believe RM 4 (which can buy you breakfast) is practically small change, at 100Yen. And 500Yen is also small change, which is RM 20...which can buy you lunch at a middle-class restaurant here in Malaysia. However....on some occasions when we had to source our own meals....we managed to find some REALLY cheap (by Japan's standards) eateries and blended in with the locals, and avoided the tourist trap prices.

Total price paid : 
(1) Air fare : USD 483
(2) Ground arrangement : USD 1372
(3) Spending money : USD 433 (most of it spent on expensive chocolate souvenirs. 8 meals were not included in the ground arrangement, and we managed to find food averaging 600Yen)


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That's all for now,
FanTa